• @[email protected]
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      191 month ago

      I started self hosting my own RSS feed a few years ago, and I couldn’t live without it. It’s the best way to get timely info.

      And then you can be the first one to post it on lemmy.

    • @[email protected]
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      41 month ago

      I loved netvibes to get daily comics and blog posts. Unfortunately people stopped writing blogs and netvibes is also gone

      • @[email protected]
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        51 month ago

        Blogs are having a timid resurgence I would say. Also not everyone stopped writing blogs, I have been following some since 2008 or so… When Google Reader was a thing lol

        I think they are a lot more obscure because we prioritise social networks over blogs, so do search indexers. But they are still there!

        Comics are now mostly on Instagram, but you can make Instagram RSS feeds with things like rss-bridge

        • @[email protected]
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          31 month ago

          Friends stopped writing their blogs. I slowly stopped reading most comics, now only Questionable Content and the occasional xkcd remains

  • @[email protected]
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    181 month ago

    Analogue clocks, particularly clock towers in towns, but also just basic clocks on the wall in your home. With smart devices everywhere, it seems like they’re not needed and probably old-fashioned. The circular 12-hour clock face probably feels like the floppy disk icon or the rotary telephone, in terms of how ‘of another era’ it is, but it’s still a fantastic and resilient form factor for the purpose of visualising the passage of time. Digital is great, but analogue will be with us for the foreseeable future (and I’m including in that the representation of analogue in a digital form, e.g. on smartwatches that provide a classic clock face graphic).

  • @[email protected]
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    1 month ago

    Tape drives. Remember those big reels of tape on mainframes in the 80s? They don’t look exactly like that anymore, but tape is still used for backups/long term archival because they offer the lowest cost per gigabyte and decent longevity without needing to be powered, as long as you don’t need to access the data all that fast or often.

    Those dank memes and cat videos you posted in 2010 are probably on tape in a data centre somewhere

    • @[email protected]
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      41 month ago

      Im obsessed with tape storage, but for audio. Nothing more real than audio on tape! Luckily it’s catching on again. Music is so disposable now, I hope we can keep physical formats alive and keep corporations away from it (digital offers them unlimited control over us).

        • @[email protected]
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          11 month ago

          Oh sorry, I meant more reel tape not really casettes, but I love the otari mx5050, and the teac 2340sx. Good machines and 1/4" tape is still affordable. PM me if you’d like more tape info, I love to share.

          • @[email protected]
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            11 month ago

            Ah okay haha. Ive been buying vinyls lately and there’s a lot of people with casette merch too. I didnt remember tape being that amazing but was willing to give it a shot. I don’t have reel to reel space at my place unfortunately. Thanks for putting it out there though!

            • @[email protected]
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              11 month ago

              Well I’ll say cassette quality can never really be good becaise of the slow speed and narrow width. . But 1/4" tape is about the best analog quality you can get (feasibly cost wise) if you go 15 IPS and half track (1 way play, no flipping).

              If you want good sound for cassettes you can’t beat a Nakamichi deck, best there are.

  • @[email protected]
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    91 month ago

    Fax machines. Phone lines are pretty private, and sending a fax is usually more secure than emailing something, especially if someone else manages your email.

    • @[email protected]
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      261 month ago

      Counterpoint, fax is not encrypted and wire taps are very easy. At least e-mail can be encrypted so Joe shmoe on the street can’t see it.

      Besides, all faxing these days is going through VOIP and computers anyways.

        • @[email protected]
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          11 month ago

          Technically true Only in transit though.

          And at least email is ostensibly locked behind a password on a computer. Not just sitting in a paper tray ready to be nabbed by Anyone walking by.

      • @[email protected]
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        1 month ago

        Having to physically wire tap the phone line is a lot more difficult and requires local bad actors. Email’s exposure to the internet makes it easier to hack. Yes, email can be encrypted, but if your server is compromised, that doesn’t matter. End to end encryption for email is much harder, and isn’t really used by any institutions (and usually can’t be because of data retention regulations), so the server has complete access to the unencrypted email in almost all cases. Compromising a fax machine that isn’t connected to the internet is a lot harder.

        Not all faxes go through VoIP. Your everyday home fax machine probably uses VoIP, because having a landline installed in your home is stupid expensive and unnecessary, but faxes in institutions probably use the PSTN. These institutions most likely need landlines anyway, so having a dedicated fax line makes a lot more sense.

        And if a fax goes through VoIP, it’ll be encrypted the same way email is. So in that case, it’s the same level of security as email, which is to say, easier to compromise. At least you can’t trick someone into clicking a link in a fax though.

        • @[email protected]
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          11 month ago

          Proton mail is encrypted on the server with your key and proton does not have access to it. If you lose your login credentials and have to reset then you lose your old email because that key is not getting recovered.

          • @[email protected]
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            11 month ago

            The email comes into their server unencrypted. They promise that they will encrypt it for you, though. Of course, you’re also relying on the sending server to keep the message secure as well.

            • @[email protected]
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              11 month ago

              Proton Mail’s end-to-end encryption and zero-access encryption ensure only you can see your emails. Not even Proton can view the content of your emails and attachments.

              • @[email protected]
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                1 month ago

                The vast majority of senders do not send email using end to end encryption. If you’re sending an email from a PM address to another PM address, sure, it’s end to end encrypted. If you’re sending to another service, it’s not end to end encrypted unless you’ve both gone through the painful steps of setting up PGP encryption. Same as if you’re receiving from another service.

                You can read about it here:

                https://proton.me/support/proton-mail-encryption-explained

                So that quote you just responded with is saying exactly what I had just said above it. They promise that they’ll encrypt that unencrypted email that just came into their server for you. And they promise that they’ll encrypt that unencrypted email you just sent outside their service.

                • @[email protected]
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                  11 month ago

                  I know, but I was answering the question about encryption, rather than users. Proton also allows sending encrypted to non participating receivers. They get a weblink and have to open it to view the email a with password if supplied. That decrypts the email at the browser, and has an expiry time on the link.

        • @[email protected]
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          31 month ago

          you can choose whatever email provider you trust, and then they apply encryption on the transport level. but there is often very few phone companies, and zero encryption. they don’t have to install any kind of wiretaps, they can just record everything automatically that passes through

          • @[email protected]
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            11 month ago

            That is true that they have the technical ability to do that, but it is also illegal if they disclose that information to anyone, and it’s unnecessary to run the service, so it simply puts them in a lot of legal jeopardy and adds to service costs.

            https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2511

            I personally trust AT&T with a fax line a lot more than I trust Google with an email.

            Google specifically discloses that it does record the contents of every email (obviously), and that when you delete an email, it’s not really gone from their servers. AT&T (as well as any phone company in the US) is not allowed to disclose the contents of your phone call or fax without a valid wiretap order (which don’t apply to privileged communications), so they almost never record call content. Keep in mind, email providers must also hand over any emails covered under a valid search warrant.

            So when you send an email, your document is 100% definitely recorded by at least two companies (or one if you use the same provider as the recipient). When you send a fax, it’s highly unlikely that the contents of your document are recorded at all, except on the printed page at the receiving end. It’s just not necessary and puts the phone company at risk, so it doesn’t make any business sense.

    • Goldholz
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      71 month ago

      Also all of german bureaucracy still works only with fax

      • @[email protected]
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        11 month ago

        In my county (midwest America) communication between lawyers and courts is still entirely by fax. I don’t know if that’s the case of other counties in my state, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all.

        • Goldholz
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          31 month ago

          It somehow suprises me but also not really thinking how traditionalist they are

          • Iron Lynx
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            31 month ago

            They say that in Japan, they live in the year 2000, but have done so since about 1970.

  • @[email protected]
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    321 month ago

    Obligatory thought to cobol, which is stil the backbone of banking computers.

    I would also think to the good old electromechanical relay which are still pretty common

    More political, but whatever what imperator Musk thinks Privacy isn’t obsolete

    • Pherenike
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      Not only is privacy not obsolete, it’s easier now than eight years ago when I started degoogling, there are so many decent alternatives nowadays to all kinds of services and apps.

  • @[email protected]
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    421 month ago

    Paper; Notebooks. Key only physical door locks. Manual transmission cars. Not having any IoT appliances, and not connecting everything you own to WiFi. Hard drive full of MP3s. Cash. Not being available for a call if you’re not at home.

    Source: work tangential enough to cybersecurity.

      • Dem Bosain
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        81 month ago

        Marijuana is legal here. Dispensaries can ONLY accept cash, because they’re locked out of the federal banking system.

        • @[email protected]
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          51 month ago

          I think some states are offering workarounds for that dilemma now, but I really do wish the US federal would just legalize it already. We have 24 states that have already legalized it, as well as 3 territories and D.C… Around 33 states have for medical purposes.

          When 2/3 of a country has legalized something in some form, it should become the de facto law of the land at the federal level. Those other states can continue keeping it illegal if their citizens so choose, but the Federal government should be forced to at least decriminalize it if it’s something that isn’t directly harming people against their will.

              • @[email protected]
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                21 month ago

                I’m sure they have a group chat, right?

                “Guys, how much are you selling your yay for these days? I’ve had negative feedback from three people now about prices. I can handle these bad Yelp reviews.”

            • @[email protected]
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              Now hold on, maybe they’re onto something. The highest levels of drug dealers most likely aren’t accepting cash, they’re laundering their money through legitimate fronts. Small time dealers setting up some simple LLC or something for a relatively small fee and funneling money through that could actually shield you better from local law enforcement. I’m pretty sure Cashapp and their ilk offer business accounts nowadays, haven’t checked myself.

              • @[email protected]
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                41 month ago

                Block, the company that owns Cash App, lost a court case and had to pay an $80m fine for failing to adhere to anti-money laundering laws. The Feds have been all over it for a year. Maybe 3 years ago it was possible to fake the KYC, but not a much so anymore.

                The only truly non-tracable financial system is Monero, and many exchanges won’t touch it because it has such a close connection to crime.

    • @[email protected]
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      Hard drive full of MP3s is love, hard drive full of MP3s is life.

      Although ATM my folder is just 1.1GB including the music videos, so I could probably store it on a thumb drive or carefully-chosen dishwasher; it doesn’t have to be a hard drive.

  • Drew
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    391 month ago

    IRC: simplest way of communicating online, and a bouncer can be availed for free

    Forums: great store of knowledge and friendly, helpful people. If you ask a question in discord, nobody will ever see the answer again.

    • CarrotsHaveEars
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      71 month ago

      I can’t related more on the second one. Slack and Microsoft Teams seems to be the default way to communicate in corporate environments.

    • @[email protected]
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      11 month ago

      Forums: great store of knowledge and friendly, helpful people. If you ask a question in discord, nobody will ever see the answer again.

      The search functions in forums are notoriously terrible though (although someone will inevitably ask you to try using it), so finding anything useful relies on “outside” search engines.

      And the linear thread format has been terrible since it was invented (which is probably why discord uses it). You basically need to ignore half the posts to follow the one interesting side line that might end up with a solution.

      • I Cast Fist
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        81 month ago

        Because setting up an IRC server is way, way easier than setting up a matrix server. It’s also a lot more reliable. The downside is that it’s text only

      • monk
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        11 month ago

        Because even IRC is better than matrix

  • ByteMe
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    211 month ago

    I’d say vinyl. Looks like a thing from the 60s but it’s still pretty relevant today

    • Dem Bosain
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      121 month ago

      I put vinyl siding on my house 15 years ago. Still looks brand new. Vinyl is here to stay.

    • @[email protected]
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      91 month ago

      I want tot go one further and say music cassettes. Love their sound and way more compact than vinyl. Sadly, there’s no good new hardware being made at the moment, although I really like my We Are Rewind player, it’s far from HiFi.

      • memfree
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        71 month ago

        Nah, gotta got vinyl because cassettes deteriorate just sitting in their cases while vinyl stays pristine … until you actually play it, anyway – but if you want to store an audio recording for longevity, press a gold version of a vinyl album.

        • @[email protected]
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          31 month ago

          With both, it also matters how you store it. But like I said, (modern) cassettes are not for HiFi. If I really want to immerse myself in a record, I need the vinyl. The whole experience is just so much fun.

  • @[email protected]
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    791 month ago

    Your caveman brain. People think they’re educated an enlightened and everything they do now is so well thought out. Nope, the caveman is in the driving seat for all of us. Even your most high level meetings and interviews are influenced by how hungry, horny, or hurt you are by a teasing comment yesterday. Everyone is looking to establish dominance at any cost, when you don’t really need to.

    • @[email protected]
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      51 month ago

      Everyone is looking to establish dominance at any cost, when you don’t really need to.

      You know, I see the rest, but I don’t see this. A lot of people are straight-up doormats.

  • @[email protected]
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    101 month ago

    Fax machines. Government and medical offices would grind to a halt without them. That’s just reality.

    • @[email protected]
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      101 month ago

      Because it can do something that the alternatives can’t do or because they refuse to use something more modern?

      • @[email protected]
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        “It can’t be hacked”

        Of course, it can, and a lot more easily than a TLS stream, but try convincing them of that. So, more like they refuse to use something more modern.

        • @[email protected]
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          01 month ago

          I always thought email was more secure if it was encrypted. I also don’t understand the difference between a virtual fax (sent as a scan, from the computer, via a phone number but literally just some kinda email like thing) or from a low tech low res scan over the phone line that likely is a voip line anyway. I don’t even know the finer details of how those work, but the differences seem pretty minute to someone just staring at the parts.

          • @[email protected]
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            Yes, email isn’t actually less transparent. If you’re using webmail over HTTPS it’s harder for a small adversary to intercept, but that’s it. Fax is way less efficient, though, while having no advantages I can think of.

        • ᴍᴜᴛɪʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴᴡᴀᴠᴇ
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          11 month ago

          Everyone even tangentially related to healthcare is terrified of violating HIPAA in a way that leaves evidence that can be traced back to them. So the corps force dumb shit like this, while the employees are perfectly happy to tell all kinds of private health information to anyone who will listen. Especially if it’s funny or gross.

    • @[email protected]
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      21 month ago

      That’s basically the answer to the opposite question: what is something that someone thinks isn’t obsolete, but really is?